


Fated Roads

by GR1EVER



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:54:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26424445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GR1EVER/pseuds/GR1EVER
Summary: Hitting the road one more time... revisiting all the places we've been to and commit them to memory. Honoring our lovely king.
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia & Prompto Argentum & Noctis Lucis Caelum & Ignis Scientia, Gladiolus Amicitia/Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum/Ignis Scientia
Kudos: 5





	Fated Roads

* * *

When the night has come  
And the land is dark  
And the moon is the only light we'll see  
No I won't be afraid  
Oh, I won't be afraid  
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

* * *

_**P R E L U D E** _

Pristine silver moonlight washes over dark marble, complimenting soft shimmering particles interwoven with the majestic polished stone standing tall and proud. The mere sight of it is enough to lay a coldfingered hand around the heart, squeezing just so that it hurts enough to make eyes sting and breathing hard.  
Fingertips reaching out, grazing the cold surface, gliding along the carefully chiseled letters, displayed in such graceful a way that it tends to the hurt like a loving kiss.  
The touch finding purpose on the roughness of the chiseling, it comes to rest, laying there, caressing despite the ignorance of the material not being able to project the feelings to the one they are directed at.

" _Ever at your side..._ "

The whisper hushes from quivering lips, breath against marble, creating the finest sheen.   
Suddenly the weight pressing down on slim shoulders becomes too much, the night too present, too full of emptiness, forcing the body forward, brow pressing against cold stone while hot tears fall on uncaring flowers.

Just then, a large hand is placed between shoulder blades, soft enough to comfort, strong enough to emit the assurance to fight away the fear, and the sadness, and the dark.  
Even with unspoken words between them, their understanding reaches farther than any consoling words ever could.  
Soft steps tread closer, another hand, smaller and slimmer comes searching, finds golden locks, and gently caresses the soft strands. 

  
"I wish I could see it."

  
While poised, there is a tremor to the deep voice not usually living there, causing the blond to slowly straighten up and regain some of his composure.   
Wordless, he takes the wrist of the other man in his hand and brings it to the polished dark marble, where his had been moments ago.  
"It's beautiful." Prompto whispers once he is sure his silent sobbing has subsided.  
It had been two months now since the monument had been set up to honor the late king, Noctis Lucis Caelum, and yet each time the blond man stands in front of it, he cannot help the emotions breaking in over him.

Ignis hums softly next to him, unknowingly mimicking the caressing of fingertips over the graceful swung letters. Underneath his shades there, too, has escaped a tear silently slipping over his cheek and down his chin.

Silence befalls the gathering of three again as they stand there, each trapped in thoughts and memories from better days, when it seemed like the big picture could be ignored. That they were just four men and a car, and an endlessly stretching road they could follow for all eternity, blissfully ignorant of wars, and kingdoms, and divine powers.

"It's not fair!" the blond chokes out at last, body tensing under the self-imposed pressure not to break down and cry again. He cannot do that every time he stands here. And yet, it feels so unbearably, undescribably unfair.

"To us, it's not. Neither to him. But he did this for the world. And for us." Gladiolous finally speaks up, the deep timbre of his voice rumbling low. His hand is still placed soft, yet firm between Prompto's shoulder blades, assuring him of his presence and comfort.  
"I'm sure he wouldn't want us to stand here and weep like old grannies."

On that, the blond spins around, ready to harp down at the bigger man, unable to understand how he can feel like joking, or how he dares to think he knows what Noctis would think, or why he...-  
But he stops as soon as he catches moonlight reflecting in wet eyes, betraying the other's jovial tone of voice.  
Ashamed of himself for almost lashing out, he gazes at the ground, silent tears dropping into dewy grass. Sure enough, a big hand finds it's way to the back of his head, pulling him closer until his tear-stained face is pressed against a broad chest, allowing him to feel as weak and lost as he does right now, if just for this moment.

The moon watches silently on, gracing the sight with its silver shine, uncaring for the three men that stand at the grave of their beloved king and, before all else, lifetime friend, unprepared to let go of their mourning yet.

* * *

_**N O W** _

The sound of glasswares crashing down from a certain height onto hard floor has the slim figure sit up straight, mind in alarm immediately, body tense and ready to spring.  
Being devoid of sight has been a thing he almost has gotten used to, but in moments like these, he can hardly contain himself not to curse the decisions that had led him down this path.

Ignis was sprawled on the sofa comfortably before he shot up, his long legs draped over Gladiolus' stomach and chest, both with their heads on separate ends of the couch, him napping and the taller man reading a book while absentmindedly caressing one of the smaller man's thighs with his free hand.

From the painful grunt of it and the feel of his foot connecting with something rough, he probably had smacked the poor dark-haired man in the face as he moved instinctively quick to be ready for whoever or whatever is attacking them.

"Relax, Iggy." Gladiolus huffs, wriggling free under the long limbs that had him caught in place before and are now the reason for a thrumming pain in his jaw.  
"I'll go have a look, stay here."  
Setting the book aside he gets up, brows furrowed and his gaze wandering to the kitchen from where the sound had come and where he can now hear low muttering. "Probably just a case of Clumsy Blond." he murmurs, both jokingly but also to calm Ignis down.

A reaction like this hasn't occurred in a while, which makes Gladio gaze over his shoulder for a moment, taking in the lean figure of the brunet now sitting up on the sofa, massaging his forehead, lips pressed together tight.  
Not wanting to make a big deal out of it, the bulky man turns around and heads for the kitchen connected directly to the living room, halting in the doorframe and leaning on it with one shoulder, muscular arms crossed over his broad chest.

Glass shards are scattered everywhere on the dark tiled floor and right in the middle of it sits the small figure of said clumsy blond, staring at a mug in his hand.  
Seemingly not noticing him, Gladiolus pushes off from the door and carefully steps around the glass to retrieve a broom from the corner of the kitchen. Just when he starts sweeping the shards, causing them to softly clang against each other, pale blue eyes look up, reddened from too many tears in too short a time.  
  


It hurts both him and Ignis to notice how much Prompto is suffering from the loss of their beloved friend, sometimes more so it seems like the both of them combined, even though such a comparison is never really on their mind in the first place. Each of them has a different way to cope, with the blond having trouble to start coping at all.

"Gladio!" he whispers when he sees the tall man swiping up the mess he created. "I'm... I'm sorry, I'll take care of this!" hastily rushing to his feet, the mug pressed against his chest like a treasure, Prompto moves to grab the sweep but is stopped right away by a strong hand grabbing his shoulder firmly, holding him in place.

"Calm down, Prom. And don't move around so much, you will cut your bare feet like that." the dark-haired tall commands, if with a gentle tone to his voice. "Just stay there until I am finished."  
A smile, and a pressing of fingers into the small shoulder, assuring the smaller man that he need not worry.

"Is everything alright?" the dark voice of Ignis now calls from the doorframe, the lean man about to step into the kitchen as well, causing Gladiolus to groan and step over to repeat the gesture of holding someone in place lest they get their feet cut up.  
"Not you too, stay there. Can't have both of you padding around here with your naked feet getting hurt." he gruffs, then makes for the rest of the shards, sweeping them to the side to pick them up with a hand brush collected from a nearby shelf.

Tossing the collateral damage of what seems to be the retrievement of a mug into the bin, the dark-haired man sighs and turns to look at Prompto, who's gaze is again drawn by the stark yellow piece of porcelain.  
"I... just wanted to grab a coffee, and when I reached for a mug, I...." the blond speaks so low they can hardly hear him, then his words get choked. He presses his lips together tightly for a moment, then looks up to meet the gaze of warm, brown eyes.

"I remember that one.", Gladiolus says softly, reaching out and carefully takes the mug in his own hand, looking it over. A washed-out motive of a chocobo is displayed on one side of the yellow mug, calling forth fond memories of the chocobo post where the owners sported a nifty souvenir shop.  
"Noct really wanted this mug for his coffee on our travels." he reminisces, fondness playing his features.

"Ahh..." the brunet, too, can remember, causing him to smile as well.   
"If I recall correctly, this here mug was the last of them and the both of you just wouldn't stop bickering who got to have it in the end."

At that remark from Ignis, Prompto laughs shakily and wipes his eyes with one hand.   
He can vividly remember how the ravenhaired royal had very much tried to use his status to coax the mug out of the blond's unrelenting hands. Later though, he had slid it over to Noctis, not wanting the other to pout for the rest of their trip.  
"Wish we could go there again..." he murmurs, eyes fixed on the mug once more.

He knows he has to let go, and soon. But each time he tries, it feels like he abandons his beloved king, banishing him from memory as if he had never existed, or at least is not allowed to play a role in his present, let alone future.  
He wants all those fond memories to be close to his heart, to cherish every moment of his life, and dedicate it to Noctis, who cannot be with him, but in doing so he only seems to run in circles around the loss inside of him.

"Well, we _can_."  
Not realizing what Gladio means, Prompto looks up at him, confused. "W...what...?"  
Meanwhile, Ignis has made his way across the room, still wary not to step in some overlooked shards. He reaches out and finds his shoulder, gently slides his lean hand to the blond's neck, and lets it sit there.   
"Gladio is right. At the moment, we are still excused from further duties, so I very much doubt there will be any objection to us taking a little time for ourselves."  
He leans down, towards Prompto, until his brow touches his temple.

Grinning, the tall man nods in agreement, ruffling Prompto's blond tufts of hair with a chuckle, then he follows suit, leans down, and rests his brow against theirs.  
"Hitting the road one more time... revisiting all the places we've been to and commit them to memory. Honoring our lovely king." he muses, a treacherous glint of poignancy in his eyes.

They stay like this for a long moment, sharing this closeness that has granted them so much solace before, and doesn't fail to now.  
In his heart of hearts, Gladiolus knows that although he offered this idea for the sake of Prompto and to help him cope with his grief, they all in their own way needed this road trip.  
Standing in their own footsteps once more, witnessing the places of their companionship, they might not only be able to let go of the sorrow but also welcome in life again, like it was meant to be. Like Noctis would want them to.

* * *

_**T H E N** _

No one had ever mentioned that the road in this part of the world could be so searing hot that it practically burned through multiple layers of leather and cloth. Shouldn't they teach that stuff in school at least? Instead of... math?  
Still, despite the utter heat, there was no way in hell he would move another muscle right now.  
Somewhere down the road, a vehicle came closer, the sound of the engine undoubtedly coming from behind them, but even at the prospect of help, he was beyond caring.   
And sure enough, all that happened was a honk in passing and the angry roar of the engine that slowly faded further down the road.

Prompto groaned, eyes closed against the much too bright rays of the sun, not for the first time wishing he had thought of bringing shades with him.  
Next to him he could hear Noctis sigh as well, slumped behind the car, much as unwilling to keep on moving as the blond himself.   
It was wonderous that his royal majesty didn't insist on sitting behind the wheel and being pushed around at all times.  
The thought was enough to make a grin tuck at the gunner's lips.

"I think we can forget about hitching our way there..." he heard Gladiolus say with a grunt. "Thought people were friendly outside the city."  
His voice grew quieter as he seemed to move further to the front of the car, surely to discuss their next course of action with Ignis - who had a swift retort for the tall man, but Prompto simply couldn't muster the energy to listen in anymore.

Was there some kind of insurance from the royal family should he start melting into the ground and suffer from permanent damages, he wondered.  
Wiggling his fingertips he tried to see how much soreness he had to expect come tomorrow, but the movement only sent a jolt of tenseness through his arms so he stopped moving altogether right away. Oh, this would be fun.

He was just about to let out another groan to announce his displeasure with the whole situation when he caught the words "push her all the way there" rumbling from the broad man coming back around to the end of the car. Oh boy, oh shit. He was serious about it, wasn't he?

"I've already pushed myself... to the brink of death." Prompto whined, ending theatrically, full well knowing that the older man wouldn't have any of this.   
Sure enough, he urged both him and Noct with teasing kicks to get their butts off the ground again and get moving.

As there was never a way to defy Gladiolus Amicitia when it came to workouts, which the blond was sure the man saw this whole push-the-car-to-oblivion fiasco, he groused and pushed himself up from the hot asphalt and onto his feet rounding the vehicle to halt at the passenger's seat and resume his pushing position.  
"I thought the _car_ was supposed to move _us_.", he complained, immediately being joined by an agreeing prince Noctis who got back to the driver's side so they could get a move on.

With Gladio in the back, it took all their muscle strength to get the heavy form of the Regalia into moving again. Grinding his boots hard into the asphalt, the blond bit down a curse. They really had overdone it with the thing, even Ignis got carried away and had pushed the royal vehicle way over its comfort zone.

Still, they didn't really regret what had happened.

There had been this moment, once they had passed the city borders, where the wildness of untamed freedom had washed over them, tearing at their clothes and hair once the car top was down. None of them had ever felt like this before, unburdened by watchful eyes and decorum, just four friends and a car and the road stretching out before them endlessly.  
It was _adventure_.   
The sort none of them had come to experience before, especially not with people this close as they were to each other.

Even the thoughts of the upcoming marriage between Noctis and Lunafreya had slipped their minds, when all but Ignis, who would die before he let go of the wheel mid-driving, had thrown their hands in the air, shouting out their joy into the deserted land around.

They had been bickering for the good portion of half an hour now when silence fell and they were, for a moment, close to enjoying themselves.  
Despite the "bad omen", as Gladio called it, and the distance they had to cover since the Hammerhead wasn't even in sight yet, they were doing this together, the thought alone enough to give them the strength to push on without complaining - at least for the moment being.

"The world's a big old place." Noctis then mused, and all of them smiled.   
This was their journey, and for now, this big old place was theirs alone.  
And maybe, they felt hopeful enough to believe, for them it would be 

_"Filled with wonders."_


End file.
